YREKA – The Mount Shasta man charged with involuntary manslaughter after fatally shooting his cousin Claudia Balassi last year pleaded guilty in the Siskiyou County Superior Court on Wednesday – the same day jury selection was scheduled to begin for his trial.

Earl Dodds, 67, entered an open plea, which means he did not have a plea agreement with the Siskiyou County District Attorney’s Office.

When court proceedings began Wednesday morning, Dodds’ public defender Lael Kayfetz asked Superior Court Judge William Davis what her client’s sentence would be if he pleaded guilty. Davis responded that if Dodds pleaded guilty, he would sentence him to five years of probation and up to one year in county jail.

Dodds entered his guilty plea and Davis scheduled the sentencing for March 19.

According to Siskiyou County District Attorney Kirk Andrus, a conviction on this charge carries a maximum sentence of four years in state prison. Case background

The shooting occurred on Nov. 9, 2012 in the Chateau Shasta Trailer Park on South Old Stage Road in Mount Shasta.

According to the testimony at the December 2012 preliminary hearing, Dodds became involved in a struggle with his cousin, Balassi, 68, when he visited her residence for a psychic reading.

Balassi had attempted to pull Dodds’ unzipped backpack away from him in the doorway of her residence. A .44 caliber handgun was in the backpack, and Dodds told officers it discharged while he was attempting to prevent it from falling out of the backpack and onto the ground. Dodds did not have a concealed weapon permit and the gun was registered in his name.

The bullet struck Balassi in her upper torso. Authorities responded to the trailer park and discovered Balassi laying in the doorway of her residence. She was transported to Mercy Medical Center Mt. Shasta where she died of her injury. The firearm was recovered at the scene.

Officials testified at the preliminary hearing that Dodds told them during interviews he communicates with aliens and he believes television sitcoms are based on his life.

Kayfetz described Dodds as having “unique mental functioning” and she pointed out that he is disabled after suffering a stroke. She requested that Dodds undergo a mental health evaluation to determine whether he was competent to waive his Miranda Rights at the time he was questioned.

Siskiyou County Deputy District Attorney Martha Aker, who has been the prosecutor in this case, cited several case studies regarding defendants with organic mental illness and mental retardation who the Supreme Court found competent to waive Miranda Rights.

Page 2 of 2 - Ultimately, case proceedings were suspended, and Dodds underwent an evaluation. It was determined that he is competent, according to online court documents.

However, he changed his plea to “guilty” before the jury was selected.

“The clear conclusion of the investigation was that this tragedy was not an intentional killing,” commented Andrus. “Mr. Dodds today essentially admitted that his actions were unlawfully careless or that his handling of the firearm was criminally negligent and that he caused a death as a result.”

As a convicted felon, Dodds will no longer be eligible to possess a firearm, said Andrus.